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Okay. I’ve received enough emails about “the guy who looks like me” in Time Magazine, the issue with Obama on the cover (not that that narrows it down much these days!) that I figuerd I should offer up an explanation, in an attempt to slow the flood…

First off, yes, it’s me. Second, I was as surprised to see me in the magazine as some of you were.

See, I did a photo shoot for Wired magazine a couple of years ago with a freelance photographer who had me sign a model release that, to my everlasting regret, gave her the right to sell my image to anybody she wants, any time, for any purpose. Without my permission. It sucks, but legally there’s nothing I can do about it. (Lesson learned: Always read contracts before signing them!)

Those of you who were paying an unhealthy amount of attention may have noticed that my picture (no name or attribution or anything) showed up last year in a Microsoft web ad for some enterprise software I don’t know anything about, with a made-up quote and everything! Same deal as this Time Magazine thing. Advertising a product I don’t use was bad enough, but it REALLY sucks that I’m being used now to illustrate an article about the lengths to which old people will go to maintain a semblance of youth and remain viable in the marketplace. Heck, I was always (if I may say so) a bit of a wunderkind — the youngest person in most of my personal and professional circles. Quite a change to be the “before” shot, as it were, in an article about old people trying to look young, I can tell you!

Oh, and as a note, I’ve had NONE of the procedures and done none of the stuff the article talks about. I mean, I work out two or three times a week, but as you can tell by looking at the photos, I was between trainers when the Time photo was taken!😉

I guess it’s cool, in some sense of the word “cool” to be part of a stock image library. Immortality is mine at last (sort of)!

Sorry, this is not meant to be mean, but you have to admit that there is a certain (dramatically) comic aspect to this😉

Having your own image being used for ads totally unrelated to you sucks. And there is really no way to have the initial photographer at least stop distributing your photo? Or are the redistribution rights already spread out beyond containment?

So, in theory, any publisher could use your image to promote their competing product with a totally made up quote next to you?

I just had some family photos taken and the photographer asked us to sign a model release form. After reading the document, I realized she could sell them to anyone for any purpose and those rights would be transferable. I wondered if I was being paranoid when I asked to not sign that waiver (I was paying for the photographs after all) but after reading your entry I’m reassured I did the right thing.